Hello everyone, I was so thrilled to discover this forum, as I have only been using my own network and experience to navigate taxes and legal structures on my own.
Quick intro: I used to have a small crypto fund back in 2018 and this was how I learned about various offshore options and practices. However, I decided to shut it down as it was increasingly difficult to operate without an EU license. Since then, I have been operating a boring and straightforward energy advisory business out of Cyprus, nothing high risk, and happy to share my experience starting a business and residing in Cyprus ( I am EU citizen).
My experience with banks: I have various bank accounts open in France, NL etc but I am mostly using Revolut now. I had Bunq close my account because I was using my account in "unexpected manner" ( I still don't understand the reason) and my experience with "crypto friendly" banks has been typically very painful (like with Wirex) as they keep asking about the origin of most transactions, as well as blocking my account when I am withdrawing cash from a "high risk country" (i.e as a tourist in the rest of the world) . My conclusion has been that signing up to a crypto friendly bank is basically telling them by defintion " I am a very high risk client and you risk to loose your license so please ask me as many questions as possible to cover your a*s"
What I am struggling with right now: As I said my revenue is 100% coming from clear and low risk sources (consulting with listed western companies..). However, I recently got an inheritance. Good news right? Yes but it is not in hard currency, it is basically a lot of local currency cash stuck in a bank/country with strict capital controls. For those unfamiliar with this issue, it is basically impossible to convert the bank balance into any hard currency (usd, eur etc) as an individual. Maybe you are allowed to convert 10k usd a year and there is no authorized crypto exchnage. I am trying to convert around 300k USD! The options I found for now are: 1) going through (illegal) crypto P2P exchange in cash 2) going through (illegal) black market broker in CASH who can convert it and send me the equivalent in AED to my bank account. I am trying to figure out the conversion part but my question is where to send that crypto/fiat once it is converted into USD or AED. The bank will ask me about the orgin, which I can justify (inheritance) but it is hard to trace as the transfer to the broker or to the P2P is done in cash. Also option 2 means I will get the amount from a random dude in Dubai that is part of the brokerage network. I doubt whether my bank will be thrilled to learn about my scheme. Although, as I said, most people in Africa , Asia (china, vitenam etc) and Latin America (Argentina etc) deal with these kind of capital controls to a smaller or larger extent.
Big apologies for the long message and curious to hear your views/warning/solutions
Thanks a lot!
Quick intro: I used to have a small crypto fund back in 2018 and this was how I learned about various offshore options and practices. However, I decided to shut it down as it was increasingly difficult to operate without an EU license. Since then, I have been operating a boring and straightforward energy advisory business out of Cyprus, nothing high risk, and happy to share my experience starting a business and residing in Cyprus ( I am EU citizen).
My experience with banks: I have various bank accounts open in France, NL etc but I am mostly using Revolut now. I had Bunq close my account because I was using my account in "unexpected manner" ( I still don't understand the reason) and my experience with "crypto friendly" banks has been typically very painful (like with Wirex) as they keep asking about the origin of most transactions, as well as blocking my account when I am withdrawing cash from a "high risk country" (i.e as a tourist in the rest of the world) . My conclusion has been that signing up to a crypto friendly bank is basically telling them by defintion " I am a very high risk client and you risk to loose your license so please ask me as many questions as possible to cover your a*s"
What I am struggling with right now: As I said my revenue is 100% coming from clear and low risk sources (consulting with listed western companies..). However, I recently got an inheritance. Good news right? Yes but it is not in hard currency, it is basically a lot of local currency cash stuck in a bank/country with strict capital controls. For those unfamiliar with this issue, it is basically impossible to convert the bank balance into any hard currency (usd, eur etc) as an individual. Maybe you are allowed to convert 10k usd a year and there is no authorized crypto exchnage. I am trying to convert around 300k USD! The options I found for now are: 1) going through (illegal) crypto P2P exchange in cash 2) going through (illegal) black market broker in CASH who can convert it and send me the equivalent in AED to my bank account. I am trying to figure out the conversion part but my question is where to send that crypto/fiat once it is converted into USD or AED. The bank will ask me about the orgin, which I can justify (inheritance) but it is hard to trace as the transfer to the broker or to the P2P is done in cash. Also option 2 means I will get the amount from a random dude in Dubai that is part of the brokerage network. I doubt whether my bank will be thrilled to learn about my scheme. Although, as I said, most people in Africa , Asia (china, vitenam etc) and Latin America (Argentina etc) deal with these kind of capital controls to a smaller or larger extent.
Big apologies for the long message and curious to hear your views/warning/solutions
Thanks a lot!
